In Columbus, Kirill Marchenko was the lone striker in the skills competition on Monday as the Blue Jackets ended the Vancouver Canucks’ five-game winning streak in a 4-3 win after penalties. 
“Our skating is good, and we wanted to pressure them, force them to make plays under pressure,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said.
Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves in the win. It was his first start since last December.
“It was really difficult. It was really difficult to get into the game,” Merzlikins said. “Each period I was feeling better and better and more comfortable. … It was a long time [that] I didn’t play.”
The Blue Jackets moved to 14-21-9.
The opening stanza was active with the Canucks taking a 1-0 lead on a strike by J.T. Miller at 5:28.
Columbus tied it on a marker form Yegor Chinakhov at 5:55 of the first.
“Chinakhov, his game is improving and we see it before our eyes,” Vincent said. “Him and Sillinger are just taking a step. They were very explosive out there and created a lot of chances against a very good (Vancouver) line.”
Vancouver took a 2-1 lead into the middle frame when Connor Garland scored at 14:54 of the first.
The Canucks dropped to 30-11-4.
“I loved that we got a point. Casey was unreal,” Miller said. “It could have been a lot worse than it was. We’ve done a good job as a group lately. That was kind of a dud for us.
“We know that. We have a high expectation and we’ll get back to where we need to be next game. We don’t like the way we played today but we’re excited to go home.”
In the middle frame, Dmitri Voronkov scored off the power play for the first of a double on the afternoon to tie the game, 2-2, for the Blue Jackets.
Elias Pettersson scored off the power play at 7:35 of the second to restore the lead to the Canucks at 3-2.
“We grinded. We were a tired group,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “We made some mistakes we usually don’t make. I think it was mentally a tough game for some guys but we hung in there.”
“We had the lead late there in the third. Got to give them credit. Columbus worked hard. They worked hard through the neutral zone. They’ve got young skill. They’re an up-and-coming team.”
Voronkov scored his double midway through the third period to tie the game, 3-3, and force extra time which solved nothing.
Casey DeSmith made 41 saves in the loss.
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